Latest player linked with summer move to Newcastle is a strange one

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Wednesday morning has seen Newcastle linked in a number of places with a proposed summer move for Lewis Dunk.

Hard to find where the original source for this one was…but it isn’t a new story.

United have been regularly linked with the Brighton centre-back on a number of occasions in the past and back then it might have made sense.

Newcastle have struggled at the back for years and a young promising English defender playing in the Championship would have been a potentially logical target.

Newcastle United had an early close-up sighting of Lewis Dunk as well, as he was in the team that knocked Newcastle out of the FA Cup in 2012 and then was on the bench when they did it again in 2013.

However, with the two clubs looking very likely to pass each other going in opposite directions next month, this transfer story looks a ‘little’ weak.

Obviously we all know that Newcastle are favourites to go down despite Rafa Benitez’ last minute emergency surgery but in the Championship Chris Hughton has done a brilliant job on the South coast.

With two games to go, Brighton are tied on 87 points with both Middlesbrough and Burnley for the two automatic promotion places.

Quite ironic that Hughton’s team have a two in three chance of promotion whilst Newcastle have a two in three chance of going down…

If Newcastle and Brighton swap divisions then it will be a classic case of the prey becoming the predator.

Whilst Burnley showed some restraint on their previous promotion, even they will be putting a serious hole in the £100m or so of TV cash when it comes to transfers, if they go up.

Middlesbrough have already shown their intent when spending around £10m in January on Jordan Rhodes to try and ensure promotion.

With so many clubs, with so much cash, chasing so few players, it is inevitable that whoever comes up from the Championship…and those who just survive relegation, will be looking at the better players at clubs who have gone down.

The next three weeks are vital for the short and medium-term future of Newcastle United, let’s hope Rafa Benitez can do another ‘Istanbul’.

About the author

Graham Porter

Staff Writer - Did the Entertainers period really happen? Love Newcastle but hate the endless off the field politics - the fans United, will never be defeated.